Cross-tie.



J. T. ANDREW.

Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

JAMES T. ANDREW, OI? MONJTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

CROSS-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Iltatented Aug. 22, 1911.

Application filed December 29, 1910. Serial No. 599,288.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES '1. Annnnw, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mtmtgomery, in the county of li'lmitgomery and State oi Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cross- .lies; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will emiblc others skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of railway ties or similar articles, but for brevity in the tt'ollowing description will be simply .reierred to as a cross tie.

It is a well known fact that a great number of cross ties are discarded when they deteriorate atany particular spot, although iirerpiently a greater portion of the tie itself is in good condition. Owing to the scarcity of timber, this becomes a very important factor, and ties have been constructed oi? metal and concrete, etc, but they have not been found suitable as cross ties oi wood, owing to the slight give or ilexure oi: the wooden tie.

The primary object oi' the present invention is to overcome the d iiiieultics by build ing up a tie out of plurality oi wooden sections securely held together, and any one of which sections may be readily replaced by a fresh section in the event of local deterioration.

lVhile the invention is not restricted to the exact details shown and described, for the purpose oi disclosure re'terenee is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion oi? a railway track, employing my improved tie. Fig. 2 is a perspective view o'ij' an improved tie. Fig. 3 is fragmentary perspective view, showing another term of end keeper. Fig. iis a iiragn'icntary sectional view showing the application of the end keeper shown in lfiig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view oi the end keeper shown in Fig. 2.

In constructing my improved tie, I employ a plurality oi. sections 1 of wood. snugly fitting together and forming a tie having a horizontal division line 2 and a vertical division line 3.

In the construction shown in the drawings, tour sectional members are employed, comprising a lower layer of two members and an upper layer of two members, the members of the upper layer being directly above the members oi? the lower layer, so that the 'vcriical division oi the upper layer will be directly above the vertical division line oi? the lower layer, enabling a single end kec 'ier for each end oi? the tie to securely hold the ends together. in Figs. 2, i, and 5, this end keeper is designated as 1-, and consists oi a cylindrical member adapted to be centered over the intersection oi the verticalv and horizontal division line and to be driven into the ends of the tour segmental members, encompassing the inner lower corners, or the inner adjacent corners oi" same, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. ()nc oi these keepers is arranged at each end of the tie, and intermediate oi. the ends and adjacent thereto l provide clamping bands 5, which may be securely held together in any suitable way, illustrated in the drawings by the upturned ends 6 and the bolts 7. in addition to this, staples 8 may be employed along the length oi. the tie for securing together two oi the segmental members, and to protect the tie against the weather the same is suitably treated or creosoted in any well known way.

in l ig. S, a slightly diilercnt form of keeper is employed, consisting in this case oi the radiating integral plates 9, disposed at right angles to each other and adapted to be driven in the ends oi. the tie sections with each plate inserted in a tie section in a diagonal direction, iirmly tying together the ends of the sections, as clearly shown in the figure.

lt will be understood that where sections oi smaller cross area are employed, these sections can be tied together by the. end keepers in groups, and the groups similarly tied by other end keepers, although for sirnplicityoii illustration 1 have simply shown tour sectional members in the drawings.

i am aware oi the iact that ties have been constructeijl by employing a plurality of wooden sections bolted or nailed together, which is very unsatisiactory, owing to splitting, and l do not claim broadly the mere building up oi a tie out of a plurality of wooden sections, but

Having thus described a practical and preferred embodiment of the invention, the particular features of novelty and what I do claim will now be pointed out more succinctly in the following claims 1. A sectional cross tie containing as an element a group of four sections consisting of an upper and a lower pair, and means for tying together an end of said group comprising a common keeper driven longitudinally into the abutting corners of said group, substantially as described.

2. A cross tie comprising three or more sections grouped together out of straight or continuous alinement, and means for tying together each end of the tie comprising longitudinally disposed end keepers driven into and common to all of the sections, substantially as described.

3. A cross tie comprising three or more sections grouped together out of straight or continuous alinement, means for tying together each end of the tie comprising longitudinally disposed end keepers driven into and common to all of the sections, and trans verse tying means intermediate of said ends, substantially as described.

4. A cross tie containing as elements a group of four wooden sections comprising an upper and a lower pair, having a common vertical division line and a common horizontal division line, and a common end keeper centered over the intersection of said division lines and driven into all four of said sections, substantially as described.

5. A cross tie comprising a plurality of wooden sections grouped together, means for tying together each end of the tie, com prising a longitudinally disposed end keeper driven into and common to all of the sections, and transverse tying means intermediate of said ends, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES T. ANDREW.

Witnesses:

ED. WIccINs, T. J. HEWLETT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

